


Little Silence

by platyhelminthesis



Category: Clone High
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platyhelminthesis/pseuds/platyhelminthesis
Summary: Joan and JFK get into an argument.
Relationships: JFK/Joan of Arc (Clone High)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 89





	Little Silence

The night was so loud.  
There were the crickets outside, and the soft whir of the vents, but the most deafening sound of all was the silence between them.

Jack had wrapped his arms around Joan, and she had pushed him away, mumbling a cruel, “Don’t touch me, Kennedy.”  
It had stung, and the feeling was lingering even minutes later. There was a cold feeling that he just couldn’t shake.

“Why do you hate me, Joan?” he asked. His voice sounded so crisp in the dark.

She answered quickly. “What? I don’t hate you.”

“You never want me to touch you.”  
Not everybody worked like Jack did, this he knew, but it felt like a direct insult when someone who he knew was touch-starved, someone like Joan, denied him.

“Yeah, because you’re...” Joan took a little longer to answer. Then, she spiraled into a little rage.  
“Ugh, Kennedy, you- you never have to worry about anything. Your biggest concerns are who to fuck and when to do it and I’m- worrying about all this shit right now.”  
He could see her moving her hands in the darkness.  
“I don’t want to worry about wether or not I want to date you.” she concluded. She sounded serious.

Jack thought that that was a lot of big accusations for something he never really said. He certainly wouldn’t deny an opportunity to date Joan, but he’d had his fair share of rejections from her already. He’d sworn off asking, at least for the moment. He enjoyed spending time with her, sleeping with her, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

He felt hurt. “I worry about more than... that.” he said after another minute of nothing.

“I know. I’m sorry. That was mean of me to say.” Joan practically interrupted him to apologize. She’d known it was coming.

More quiet. It was hard for Jack to pick and choose exactly what part of what Joan had said to respond to.

“...Why wouldn’t you date me, Joan?”

She whipped around to face him, and something about the way she did it made his stomach do a funny little dance that he hadn’t felt since he was a child being scolded by his parents.  
“God, this is why! You’re so... shallow! It really never crosses your mind how anyone else feels, does it?”

He didn’t understand. It was like they were having two different conversations. He didn’t know why she was so upset and it made him feel small and afraid. He didn’t want to feel afraid like that, not because of Joan.  
“I really meant it.” he said.

She sighed and leaned back, looking upwards as if lost in thought. She relaxed a little and so did Jack.  
“You’re too... unreliable.” she said. “Your idea of dating is more like having one girl who’s your arm candy and then seventy other side chicks. I’m not confident that you’ve ever felt anything but sexual attraction to a girl, and I’m sorry, but I don’t trust your judgement on that.”

Jack stiffened. Was this really how she felt about him? “It’s different, Joan, I swear.” he pleaded, but now he wasn’t sure. “I really did like Cleo, and... I really like you, too.”

“You only want me because you can’t have me, Jack.”  
She settled back into bed, and he hoped that wasn’t the end of the conversation. It wasn’t.  
“The second you get me, this romantic teenage fantasy of yours is gonna be over and I’m just gonna be another girl-toy for you to mess with. I’m sorry I have the self respect not to be your pet, Kennedy.”

“You did it for Lincoln.”  
It came out of his mouth before he could really think, but it was true and both of them knew it. A following silence would’ve been too painful, so he kept going.  
“And- I wouldn’t ask you to do it. For me.”

“Do you really think that you love me?” she asked. To his relief, it was soft. It wasn’t accusatory like it had been before.

He answered in a heartbeat.  
“Yes.”

“Kennedy, how can I ever trust you not to hurt me?” Joan asked, and now she sounded sad. His heart broke for what must have been the third time.

“I dunno, Joanie.” he said. “But I sure don’t want to. And- I don’t like that your perception of me is that I will for-sure.”

“I’m sorry. I’m still afraid to date you.”

“Then don’t date me!” he raised a hand defensively. “Not yet, anyway. Joan, I just- I like this. I like you. An’ I like holding you.”

She considered this, and then she opened her arms for him and he dove in.  
For a minute it was a hug, and then it was soft and gentle and everything that Jack wanted to fall asleep with every night.

“We can do this first, okay?” he said. “And then...” he shrugged. She nodded.

“That would be okay.”

And then there was quiet, peaceful and soft.


End file.
